Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Aaron Dworkin, the first African-American dean of the School
of Music, Theatre and Dance at the University of Michigan, is stepping
down after one year, effective in August.

Dworkin, a
violinist who founded Detroit’s nonprofit Sphinx Organization that works
to boost minority numbers in major orchestras, was appointed dean in
February 2016. At that time his wife, Afa, took over as Sphinx executive
director.

In an email to the entire university, Dworkin said he’d arrived at his decision to resign with “intensely mixed emotions.”

He said he needed the opportunity “to focus more on my
family, and this step reflects a joint family decision on our part. I
appreciate your understanding about this,” Dworkin added, “and my need
for privacy on this matter.”

He will remain a member of the UM faculty, teaching courses next fall in Creative Entrepreneurship and Arts Leadership.

Dworkin
is credited with breathing new spirit into the school, creating a
chamber-music department, and launching a new international chamber
competition, MPrize, to be held annually in Ann Arbor with a top prize
of $100,000.